MVP Baseball 2003: Hitting

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We take a deeper look at what happens when bat meets ball in EA's baseball title.

By Aaron Boulding

As part of EA Sports total overhaul of their troubled baseball videogame franchise, the team at EA Canada has done all it could to ensure that MVP Baseball 2003 looks and plays nothing like the insulting Triple Play 2002. We've already shown you how the pitching control has been re-invented, but the other half of the equation --the hitting-- is a big departure from what gamers may be used to in console baseball games. The mechanic is unique enough that we figured it warranted a little special attention before the game hits shelves.

The batting, like the pitching, is designed to give gamers a taste of what real major leaguers go through while they're at the plate. While aiming their swing in order to make contact with the pitch is part of their job, the traditional videogame method of lining up a batting cursor to meet the pitch has been done away with in MVP. You do have to maintain your sense of timing and know when to execute a swing using the A button, but there's no aiming your swing plane. Instead you're leaning the left analog stick in a direction to determine what kind of swing you want to make on the incoming pitch. Leaning up means you want to hit a flyball, while down means you want to stay on top of the pitch and hit it on the ground. Leaning left and right will pull the ball or knock it to the opposite field and is relative to your batter's stance.

Since you're determining the type and timing of the swing, and not aiming the swing itself like in most other games, reading pitches is an extremely precious skill in MVP Baseball 2003. Since not all pitches are conducive to the type of swing you want to make, knowing what you want to do as a hitter and what you can do with different pitches will determine your success. For example, if you're hell bent on hitting a home run because you've got two men on and two outs in a tight game and you've got Mike Piazza at the plate you basically have to wait for a pitch you can drive and put a home run swing on it. Piazza's hot and cold zone will tell you how well he hits in different parts of the strike zone but it's up to you to know that not even he can pull a ball with any power if it's tailing away from him. That's not to say he can't make contact, but you won't put a move on the ball like you wanted. Instead waiting for something higher in the strike zone, leaning up and a little to the left (to pull the ball) on the left analog stick might do the trick.

Not much you can do with an inside pitch besides pull it

That is the fundamental difference in MVP. Waiting for your pitch, making smart decisions, taking into account the situation (number of outs, position of baserunner) and the pitch count are all skills pro baseball players have to have, and now you do too if you want to be successful. There's still the old fast-twitch skill of mashing the analog button with proper timing and then managing the base-running after that, so it's not all thinking, thank goodness. Reading pitches on the fly will allow the accomplished MVP player to change strategy quickly and try to hit into hole in the defense or realize that a particular pitcher is never going to throw the curve ball that you want to crush. A player like Barry Bonds can pretty much crush any pitch in any position, but the other 99% of major leaguers will have weaknesses and strengths at the plate that you will have to work with and around.

Full extension is important for slap hitters

Players like Eric Chavez and Torii Hunter told the lads from EA Canada that when a pitcher makes a mistake, the incoming pitch looks fat, slow and vulnerable like a wounded turkey in a barrel. To re-create that feeling, bad pitches will indeed give themselves away with a colored marker in the strike zone and will travel noticeably slower. It's still up to you as the batter to time your swing and make an adjustment when you see that slow bender rolling towards you. Just because the pitcher has given up a duck doesn't mean you've got an automatic homer, especially if you're batter has no power.

He should be thinking about what he wants to do in this situation

But it is the best opportunity you'll have to hit the pitch wherever you want without having to guess at the ball's speed or break. Like any baseball game there are going to be outs on hit balls that you think should be hits and homers and there are going to be fair balls that normally would be outs, but overall the hitting system is refreshing and well designed.

Leg lifts and steps are done automatically and can help your timing

IGN will have more on MVP Baseball 2003 as we get closer to the game's launch.